Sociology is not Social Work By Olufolarin Ayomide

At the ongoing National Association of Social Workers (NASoW) International Conference taking place at the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja from 7th till 9th of November, 2017; the Key note speaker – Dr. Jane Adebisoye – made a clear point on the distinct of the profession of Social Work from other close related professions, in her words “the helping profession as well as an Academic discipline of Social Work is not the same as Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology”.

Despite the fact that Social Work is a profession that has to do with one’s passion; it has its own methodologies, principles and techniques. The key note speaker also stressed the fact that, “a Social Work educator must be a Social worker”.

A Social work Educator is a person who must have gone through the theories and practice of social work and must also be well informed about the scientific nature of the discipline as well as the code of ethics. A Social work educator must be able to perform and render Social Work intervention to students and staffs. Invariably, a Nurse Educator is a Nurse, a Law Educator is a Lawyer, so also a Social work Educator must be a Social worker.

She also went further to advice that, “all individuals practising Social Work, including Social Work educators and do not have an academic background in Social Work should go back to school and at least get a diploma or a postgraduate diploma in social work…”, so as to certify themselves as professionals because of the anticipated regulatory bill awaiting the president’s accent.